


Compulsion

by overworkedunderwhelmed



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adversarial LadyNoir, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Background DJWifi, Divergent Timelines, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Miraculous magnetism, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prior Lukanette relationship, enemies au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 12:37:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16241774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overworkedunderwhelmed/pseuds/overworkedunderwhelmed
Summary: They were supposed to be partners.  They were supposed to have each other’s backs.  That’s how it had always been.  How it should have always been.And yet, Chat Noir had barely been her partner for a few weeks before Hawkmoth had turned him to the dark side.  She’d gotten help, and put together a team to counter their offensive, but it had only dragged the battle out.But the delay was causing Ladybug more problems than she could handle.And, at least in this, only her former partner could help her out...





	Compulsion

**Author's Note:**

> *cackles madly*
> 
> This bunny...would not leave me alone. It has been following me for DAYS...
> 
> Thanks to Enberlight for helping to tame it...just a little bit. ;)

In the dim light of the bar, Marinette sipped her glass of wine, swirling it absently as the thrum of music pulsed through the nightclub.

 _“Ladybug and Chat Noir were supposed to be partners.”_ Tikki’s lilting voice echoed in her head. _“They were supposed to have each other’s backs.”_ Marinette was unable to shake the Kwami's words from her mind or the strange, empty tug from her chest.

With a sigh, she peered over to the DJ stand where Nino was busy at the mixing board.

It wasn’t like they had ever figured it would take so long to take down Hawkmoth. Even with Alya and Nino’s help, she never had expected they would have made it this long.

Their powers -- all of them -- had come with limitations. But, if Tikki was to be believed (and she hadn’t steered her wrong yet), it seemed the combination of maturity and the forced opposition was having a rather desperate effect on her love life.

Or lack thereof.

Well, at least she thought it was desperate. She never did have all that much to compare it to, at least in relation to all of her friends.

Alya hadn’t ever exactly been closed mouthed about it. Marinette knew -- well found out after the fact -- that Alya's longtime boyfriend had once had a crush on her. And were she not so busy trying to keep the whole of the city safe, she might have even considered it.

She had somehow even managed to stumble into a boyfriend of her own for a while, but he kept getting frustrated by her flakiness.

Being a superhero wasn’t for the weak hearted.

But at the price of keeping her friends and family safe? She wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

Well, at least not most days.

Today…though, distracting herself was hard. Especially with Alya making out with Nino between sets, and a whole slew of happy couples cuddled against one another as they listened to the music.

And she was here with a bottle of wine, refilling glass after glass, trying to stave off the worst of it, desperate to dull the ache.

Her hormones were _the worst_. At first, she’d thought it was just envy. But when it had lasted for longer than a day or two, she’d even met back up with Luka. She snorted. That was a whole series of mistakes she shouldn’t have re-opened so recklessly.

It had taken days now to get Luka to understand it was a mistake they both _wouldn’t_ be repeating.

She wasn’t that young, impressionable girl anymore. And as sweet as Luka could be, he hadn’t changed...and well, she wanted him to be happy too. He wasn’t a bad guy. He just wasn’t a good fit for her and her crazy life, as it was right now. It wouldn’t be fair for her to be so selfish, even if it was just to make sure she could function as Ladybug.

_Mostly..._

She just needed to try with someone she knew and trusted. But the baggage of their old relationship was more than a little inconvenient.

But it had taught her one thing...this wasn’t just hormones. It wasn’t _just_ envy.

She’d met a pair of green eyes across the bar. Blonde hair that she practically ached to rake her fingers through.

Marinette whimpered, straightening her back on the stool. 

It was much too dark...this _clawing_ need. She chuckled darkly at her own ill-timed pun.

An unbearable itch that no one else could ever scratch.

“Well,” she breathed, her voice a half whisper into the half-filled glass, “no onethat I could ever _let_ scratch me.”

Not without sacrificing her own principles...and very possibly the whole of Paris.

And still she shivered, as a wistful thrill chased down her back, as she half imagined the pinpricks of jet black nails biting into her exposed back. 

Marinette’s eye slammed shut as she took another long swig of the cheaper stuff. At the moment, her tongue couldn’t tell the difference. And if she blunted nearly all of her senses, maybe the rest of her wouldn’t be able to tell either.

* * *

After his father had him running the rooftops of Paris after Ladybug the entire night prior, all Adrien wanted was a night off.

He’d had to duck out of his own window, but he figured he’d more than earned the reprieve when he’d de-transformed in a nearby alley.

Dutifully, the barkeeper took his order, sliding the full glass of beer across the counter, as he waited for his friends to appear.

Not that they’d texted him back just yet.

Even Chloe had been checking in on him hours ago, but it wasn’t a help. Not that they ever got to hang out much, and on the rare occasion they did, he was usually just catering to her whims.

Father had been quick enough to place him in another, just-as-prestigious school to keep him out from her influence.

His father had made perfectly clear that neither of them could afford to be so distracted. Not while his Mother’s life still hung in the balance.

It didn’t exactly give him lots of time for socializing. Not while his father padded his schedule with photoshoots. Not while his extra lessons and the usual schoolwork kept him busy between missions.

But Plagg had been a wonderful boon -- at least in those earliest days -- before he had gone quiet and withdrawn. He hadn’t said much, not beyond his frequent demands for naps and cheese. 

When he did speak, Plagg just kept saying that this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. That he didn’t understand how he could give his partner up so easily.

Adrien sighed, frowning down at the still-darkened screen of his unbothered phone. It wasn’t like he didn’t still want to keep Ladybug safe. He just knew now, what it was that Hawkmoth had been fighting for.

And he’d tried to plead with her….to help her understand why her Miraculous was so necessary. How they could even avoid the battles.

But it wasn’t like he could tell her who he was...or fully explain the situation to her, not without risking his own identity. 

That was one of the few orders Plagg had given him that he'd been able to honor.

It would be hard enough just to get Ladybug to stop and listen to him after so long.

With a weary sigh, he tipped the beer back, desperate to drown his own sorrows. But he hated to drink alone.

He did far too much alone as it was. 

Adrien stared back down at his phone, unlocking the screen and frowning at the lack of the flash of a notification. It must have been too late to reach his friends after all.

In frustration, he dragged his fingers through his hair. With as crazy as his life had become, he’d had to pass on so many outings, they’d probably all already had plans of their own without counting on him. And he'd struggled to make new friends at the university while keeping up with all of his Father’s requirements.

His eyes drifted up towards the ceiling, desperate for the slightest bit of luck.

It certainly hadn’t come from the Kwami hiding in his shirt pocket.

He shook his head, draining the last dregs of from the glass. To be fair, his luck had been bad even before Plagg had fallen into his lap.

“Excuse me,” Adrien waved at the bartender, shouting over the music. “Could I get another?”

The bartender smiled, adeptly snagging another glass to fill.

Adrien smiled back before his attention was drawn by a pair of pretty blue eyes from the other end of the bar.

He always was a sucker for blue eyes. The young woman stood up, dark hair cascading to her shoulders. She teetered on impossibly high heels, his eyes following her wobbly progress to the bathroom. 

It was impossible for him not to notice her, not once he’d caught the shimmer of the red top she was wearing. It was enticingly backless. And remarkably well-tailored at that. His brain was a little too slow to puzzle out the mystery of where he had seen its design before.

It was familiar for sure... his drink-addled brain was just at a loss to place it.

Adrien pressed his lips into a thin line, noticing the barkeeper gathering up the empty bottle of wine and the glass beside it from where she had been sitting.

* * *

Marinette shuffled slowly back from the restroom, having just re-applied a bit of gloss. The wine glass was siphoning the color, and she was sure she probably looked like a mess.

She was certainly already feeling it.

Her eyes widened as the bartender pushed a glass of water and a small plate of cheese and charcuterie before her.

Marinette blinked, looking up at the bartender in confusion. “What’s all this?”

“Gift from the blond across the way.” The female bartender winked. “If it was a drink request, I would have waited for you to decline. But it seems like I wasn’t the only one to notice you staggering a bit.”

“Oh,” Marinette blushed, under the scrutiny, and even more so when she’d noticed the barkeeper had gestured to the blond that her libido had already been far too aware of before.

She looked down at the food warily. 

The bartender smiled. “No worries. I carried it out from the kitchen myself.”

Hesitantly, she lifted her glass of water in mock cheers, meeting his smiling eyes and relieved little nod, before she gulped a bit down.

* * *

It had been a few full minutes before Marinette summoned up the courage to go over and thank him.

It was polite anyway, even as her hormones -- and her too creative mind -- were already occupying much needed vocal reserves with cooking up other more interesting ways to say thank you.

Marinette bit at her lip, anxious to keep her ardor in check. He had been sweet after all, sending a bit of food her way. She certainly couldn’t pull off keeping Paris safe with a wicked hangover.

It would be a struggle enough to stay focused as it was.

She smiled softly, bracing her hand on the glossy wood bartop. “Is your seat taken?” 

His green eyes widened, dilating slightly in spite of the low light.

Marinette blinked. No that couldn’t have been right; she set her hand atop the empty barstool beside him. “I-I mean this seat. Is this one taken?”

* * *

Adrien smiled broadly, pulling the barstool out slightly. “Go ahead. It seems like my friends won’t be joining me tonight.”

As much as her eyes looked a bit like his erstwhile partner’s in this dim light, her sweetly awkward shyness was a bit more endearing when compared to Ladybug’s brash confidence. Though up close, he was all too aware that her figure was just as impressive.

“I was trying to puzzle out where I’d seen this shirt before.” Adrien grinned, tapping a long finger lightly on the material covering her shoulder. “I could swear that I’d seen it in a magazine, but I couldn’t place the designer.”

A coy smile curved the woman’s lips. “I’m her.”

“Huh?” 

She tilted her head, peering up at him. “I designed it. It went in for a contest with Gabriel, but this is the prototype I made.” She leaned her head in, conspiratorially. “It has a slight imperfection on the inside stitching, so I had to make another to submit. But I figured no one else might notice under all these dim lights.”

Adrien could hardly keep his chuckle from running unrestrained. With all the web of lies and secrets running rampant in his life, her honesty was a refreshing change of pace.

Clearly she had talent.

But if she’d noticed who he was, she didn’t say a word.

He smirked, “well, if you hadn’t said anything, I’d be none the wiser. You definitely have a lot of talent.”

She blinked, her head tilted while her soft blue eyes looked at him, assessing. “Hmmm.”

“Something interesting, I hope?” Adrien’s brows lifted, trying to mask the bit of eagerness in his expression. Living his life in front of the camera, he knew his weaknesses in that regard.

“It’s just…” Lips quirked, she snorted softly, belying her air of self-deprecation. “I’m half waiting for you to take off. Most guys I know, get a bit intimidated when I mention that I’ve won a design contest.”

Adrien grinned over his glass. “Maybe you just haven’t met the right guy.”

“Maybe.” She agreed, a little bit of mischief sparkling in her eyes.

She was sweet, sharing the plate he’d bought for her. He grabbed a bit of the cheese when she wasn’t looking, tucking it into his pocket for Plagg.

As they chatted on, he couldn’t help feeling as if she genuinely was familiar. But he had barely worked with his Father’s in-house design team, let alone any of the contest winners.

Not that he would mind working with this girl.

He smiled down at her and her infectious enthusiasm. In fact, he’d have to do a bit of research when he got home to see just who she really was. If he played this just right with Nathalie, he might even get to work with her professionally, too.

“Oh, no.” She whimpered, grabbing his shoulder and dropping down below the bar level.

She peered over at the door, and he followed her gaze with his own eyes. “What is it?”

“Don’t look!” She poked, not-so-gently at his shoulder. 

“Ack!” He winced, continuing to look at the blue-haired guy lingering in the doorway before averting his gaze back to his drink, to peer down at her under the bar. “You going to hide down there all night?”

She groaned, pressing her back against the bar. “I was really hoping to avoid him tonight…”

“An old friend?” His fingernails rapped at the edge of the bar, carefully keeping his voice even.

“Worse,” she scowled. “An ex. One who has not been hearing the message that things are over.”

Adrien frowned, digging out a pile of bills to set on the bar. “Is he going to cause a problem?”

“Not if he doesn’t see me.” She held onto the bars on his stool, wincing as she peered over anxiously. “I might have given him a bit of hope that I wanted to start things up again. But I realized pretty quickly that nothing had changed...and told him it definitely wouldn’t work out this time, either.”

Adrien released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, as he watched the blue-haired man walking down towards the stage. He caught the barkeepers eye, tapping the counter. “For myself and the lady.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” She whispered, slamming her eyes shut as she let him shuffle her towards the door. “At least let me pay you back.”

“After you’re out of here safe,” Adrien answered, his eyes drifting back to make his mark before they slipped out the door and into the night He shook his head. “That guy definitely looked like he was looking for someone.” 

She sighed, burying her face in her hands, as they both ducked out of sight into the nearby alley. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he was just here looking for another friend.”

Concerned, he pressed a hand to her bare shoulder. “Maybe, but if he really bothers you all that much, maybe you should move on to another bar. Clearly, you’re trying to avoid a tough situation here.”

She puffed out her cheeks, heels clicking against the pavement as they ducked through the alleyway. “Yeah, but I’ve also dragged you into this mess.”

His grin was unrepentant. “This is hardly the largest mess I’ve had to deal with.”

“Sure,” she murmured, mussing her hair slightly in her half-panicked state. “And you are entirely too sweet to help me out. But this is hardly the best first impression…And it really isn’t fair to you in any case.”

Adrien chuckled, pressing his hand against the small of her back to escort her away from the likely drama. “It isn’t exactly the first impression...I mean, we’ve been chatting for a little while now.”

“Oh…It is a little odd, I suppose. But you are really easy to talk to.” That too-blue gaze matched his with the headiest mix of hope and the slightest hint of fondness. 

Her nose wrinkled up adorably. “Honestly, it almost feels like I’ve known you for years.”

Hope like that was a powerful thing. It was hard enough for him to come by...but even her open admiration was new for him. Too few people in his life liked him for anything more than his modeling abilities...or for the fortunes associated with his name. And as Chat Noir he was a force to be feared.

This, itself, was a little new to him. 

As the loud burst of a crowd exited the door of the bar, carousing towards their alley, he heard her gasp. He felt her pull away, to hide a bit more in the shadows. Without a second thought, Adrien moved with all the stealth and grace his alter ego could muster before his beer-soaked mind had caught up.

Adrien pressed her back against the brick, winding his own arm up her back to keep her exposed skin protected from scraping against the rough wall. 

He pressed his forehead to hers, his lips hovering just over hers. With as many photoshoots as he'd been forced to endure over the years, he was practiced enough in faking a kiss that would fool the cameras.

Adrien just hadn’t counted on her response.

He’d expected that she’d freeze up...that was instinct pure and simple. The fact that he was hovering over her, a hair’s breadth away from her lips would only lend credence to the ruse.

His half-breathed apology lingered over her lips. He barely dared to open his own eyes, fearing he had pressed a little too far, in his attempt to play white knight.

And yet her eyes darkened for only the briefest second, before slipping tightly shut. 

He felt her rise up on her tiptoes, pressing herself more firmly into his arms. The delicate strength of her hands as they slipped into his hair, one palm pressing to the nape of his neck.

Urging him forward until her lips lingered just over his. 

And though he still hadn’t dared to hope that she might make this ruse into reality, he saw her lifting her face towards him. Quickly, he shut his eyes to savor the soft sweetness of wine and perfume and pressure as she slanted her lips to his.

A surprised sound escaped her, and he moved to pull back, already halfway breathing an apology. But she pulled him back in, their second kiss carrying more ardor than the first, hesitation melting away as she fit her body perfectly to his. Conscious thoughts of the ruse, the alley, gave way to the sensation of the woman tucked into his arms and sighing against his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, man..Enber's tag suggestions for this one. 
> 
> I just...cannot...(share some of them because: spoilers)...
> 
> But also, I'm dying...so maybe they'll pop up in future notes???


End file.
